20
Wednesday, September 20, 2017 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Tales from a
Sisters
Naturalist
by Jim Anderson
Celebrating
Journey’s Flight
Who would think an insect
that weighs less than a paper-
clip could bring so many
people together for such a
heart-warming time? One
family drove all the way from
near Yakima, Washington,
to attend a butterfly party in
the Sisters Area Chamber of
Commerce Visitors Center
last week.
Jeri Buckmann, member-
ship and visitor center man-
ager, went out of her way
on her so-called “day off”
to open the Chamber office,
rearrange everything to
accommodate the expected
crowd coming to celebrate
the insect who unknow-
ingly inspired a book — and
achieved quite an honor and
set a very important record
for one of its kind.
Yes, it was the fantastic
journey of Journey, the mon-
arch butterfly, that they were
honoring. Little did anyone in
Sisters Middle School know
what would happen when
Journey took to the skies last
fall.
Susie Werts, teacher at
Sisters Middle School, had
several monarch caterpillars
in the newly created monarch
waystation she and her stu-
dents created at the school.
Two of the caterpillars made
it though metamorphosis into
adults, and when Werts and
her son, Kellen, discovered
them hanging in their cage
drying their wings, they were
elated.
Werts had been in com-
munication with Professor
PHOTO BY SUE ANDERSON
Tagged monarch butterfly.
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David James of Washington
State University who had
provided her with numbered
tags designed to be placed on
the underside of the butter-
fly’s hind wing so it could be
identified if observed when
it took off on its migratory
flight to Southern California.
On September 17, 2016,
Werts and Kellen attached
tags to the two adult but-
terflies and released them.
One went high into the air
and immediately turned in a
southerly direction and was
gone in the twinkling of an
eye, like it knew where it was
going (which inspired Kellen
to name it Journey. The other
(named Hope) wandered off
and was never heard from
again.
The voyage of that one
butterfly was record-setting
because the day it arrived in
the Carpinteria, California,
monarch preserve, an
observer looking for tagged
butterflies saw it fly in. It was
also seen en route on four
separate occasions by other
observers. The tag is designed
to be read by someone look-
ing at the butterfly with bin-
oculars the same way people
watch and identify birds.
Last Saturday afternoon,
more than 50 people gath-
ered in the Chamber head-
quarters to celebrate that his-
toric voyage, and the book
the middle school students
attending helped to write
about Journey’s flight. Local
author Jean Russell Nave
— who also brought deli-
cious cake — spearheaded
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the book project
and interviewed
many of Werts’
students for their
ideas on what the
butterfly might
have encountered
on its way south.
Illustrations were
provided by both
middle and high
school students.
The proj -
ect took most of
the 2016 school
year to complete.
PHOTO BY SUE ANDERSON
Additional con- Author Jean Russell Nave.
tributors included
Dr. David G. James, associ- naturalists.
Many others added their
ate professor, Department
of Entomology, Washington talents to the book’s cre-
State University; Joe Billings, ation including art teachers
a self-funded monarch Judy Fuentes and Bethany
enthusiast who discovered Gunnarson, children’s liter-
Journey in Carpinteria; Loree acy advocate Jill Gentry, lead-
McCawley, a retired admin- ing outdoor publisher Rob
istrator and wildlife advocate Russell, and Conan Tigard,
from California who was a webmaster and photographer.
Local sponsors also helped
contributing editor for the
book; Tom Landis, retired out including Harry and Lola
forester who has pioneered Books; Catherine Black
the creation of pollinator hab- of Ponderosa Properties;
itats in Oregon; and myself
See BOOK on page 21
and Sue Anderson, local
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